DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Enoch Jones Farmstead, out in Bexar County. Now, every good Texas story starts with land, and this one starts with land that was already old when Texas was young. We're talkin' about a Spanish colonial land grant — 1808 — made out to a man named Ygnacio Perez.
That grant sat here, patient as limestone, waitin' for what came next. What came next was Enoch Jones. Born in 1802, an Ohio man by origin, Jones was already a nationally known engineer by the time he turned his eyes toward Texas.
He bought this particular piece of the Perez grant in 1837 — Texas was still its own republic, mind you — but he didn't make the move permanent until 1846. When he did, he set himself up in San Antonio, opened a general merchandise store, and by all accounts became a prominent citizen. The kind of man a town notices.
In 1851, Jones bought out his business partner, a fellow named John Smith, and became the sole owner of this land. Then, five years on, in 1856, he made his mark on it permanent. Construction began on the farmstead buildings — stone quarried right there on the property, pulled from the very ground the buildings would stand on.
A large house, a barn, outbuildings. Solid work. The kind you build when you intend to stay.
Enoch Jones died in 1863. But his family? They stayed.
They lived on that property for more than three decades after he was gone, until 1895, when they sold it. And here is where the story takes a turn nobody could have scripted. The buyers were Count Norbert Von Ormay — or Ormy, depending on who was spellin' it — of Prussia, and his wife.
A Prussian count, out here on the Medina. They had plans, grand ones: they intended to establish a royal court in the home. A royal court.
In Bexar County, Texas. Well. It didn't quite take.
The Von Ormays sold the property within two years. But even though the count was a resident of the area only a short time, his name was adopted by the community. The town out there?
Von Ormy. That name is still on the map. The farmstead passed through a series of owners after that, until 1915, when a man named T.
B. Baker bought the land. Baker was the president of Baker Hotels, and he had a flair for naming things — he called his new acquisition the St.
Anthony Ranch, after the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio. The Baker family held onto the property all the way until 1994.
They call this place the Castle on the Medina. A Spanish land grant, an Ohio engineer, a Prussian count with royal ambitions, a hotel magnate with a ranch named after his own hotel — this one piece of Bexar County ground has held all of them. The marker says its legacy stands as a memorial to the pioneers of Bexar County.
I'd say the castle's earned that.
What the marker says
Enoch Jones (1802-1863) purchased the land at this site, part of an 1808 Spanish colonial land grant to Ygnacio Perez, in 1837. An Ohio native, Jones was already a nationally known engineer when he moved to Texas permanently in 1846. He opened a general merchandise store in San Antonio and became a prominent citizen. In 1851 Jones bought out his partner John Smith to become the sole owner of this land. Though some evidence suggests that earlier buildings may have been present, construction began on the farmstead buildings in 1856 with stone quarried on site. A large house, barn, and outbuildings were erected. After Jones' death, the family continued to live on the property until they sold it in 1895 to Count Norbert Von Ormay (Ormy) of Prussia and his wife. The Von Ormays intended to establish a royal court in the home, but sold the property within two years. Though he was a resident of the area only a short time, the count's name was adopted by the community as Von Ormy. After a series of owners, T. B. Baker bought the land in 1915. The president of Baker Hotels, the new owner called his land the St. Anthony Ranch, for the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio. The Baker family held the property until 1994. The "Castle on the Medina" has been home to many prominent area families. Its legacy stands as a memorial to the pioneers of Bexar County. (1998)